وَأَنَّهُ كانَ يَقولُ سَفيهُنا عَلَى اللَّهِ شَطَطًا

Indeed the foolish ones among us used to utter atrocious lies concerning Allah.

EXEGESIS

Safīhunā: safīh (pl. sufahāʾ) is a noun that derives from the root safah or safāhah which lexically denotes feebleness^{‎[1]Raghib, under s-f-h.} or disorder in a thing.^{‎[2]Tahqiq, under s-f-h.} A garment that has been poorly stitched is called safīh in Arabic.^{‎[3]Raghib, under s-f-h.} However, this term is mostly used as an opposite to sound reasoning. Thus, a fool is known as safīh due to being feeble-minded. The root noun safah is widely used to refer to the effects and corollaries of its meaning such as ignorance and deficiency.^{‎[4]Tahqiq, under s-f-h.} The word safāhah, together with its derivatives, has appeared more than ten times in the Quran. Safīh in this verse denotes a fool, thus implying a kind of disorder in the rational capacity of a person.

Allāh is a proper noun for God, as introduced in the Quran and as described by Prophet Muhammad (s), and as such it does not derive from any other word.^{‎[5]Bahrayn, under ʾ-l-h; Qamus, under allāh.}

However, a number of opinions have been expressed regarding the etymology of the word allāh. Ibn al-Athīr is of the view that the term comes from the root aliha that implies to become confused or bewildered. Hence, the noun allāh is used for God to indicate that the grandeur and majesty of God would astound anyone who attempts to comprehend His attributes, and consequently leaves him in utter bewilderment.^{‎[6]Lisan and Raghib, under ʾ-l-h.} According to another view, the word derives from walah which means to lose one’s senses due to separation from the beloved.^{‎[7]Ayn and Lisan, under w-l-h.} There is yet a third opinion that the noun lawh – which connotes to be hidden, is the root of the word allāh, and therefore allāh refers to God because He is veiled from human comprehension: The sights do not apprehend Him, yet He apprehends the sights (6:103).^{‎[8]Raghib, under ʾ-l-h.}

In the Islamic tradition, the word allāh denotes the divine essence that comprises all the beautiful names and attributes.^{‎[9]Bahrayn, under ʾ-l-h.} The word allāh has appeared 2702 times in the Quran, including the term allāhumma which has occurred five times.^{‎[10] Qamus, under allāh.}

Shaṭaṭ is a noun which means to be extremely distant from something. The river shore is called shaṭṭ in Arabic due to the relatively wide gap between it and the waters.^{‎[11] Raghib, under sh-ṭ-ṭ.} In other words, it implies to move away from the limits in any given enterprise such as trading, searching for something, and the like,^{‎[12] Lisan and Ayn, under sh-ṭ-ṭ.} be it in speech or practice.^{‎[13] Thaalabi, 5/494.} Accordingly, jawr – transgression – is also termed in Arabic as shaṭaṭ.^{‎[14] Raghib, under sh-ṭ-ṭ.}

This word has appeared twice in the Quran as a noun in 18:14 and in the verse under discussion, and has occurred once in the verbal form in 38:22. In the verse under discussion, shaṭaṭ signifies the ascription of such things to God that exceed the bounds of reality. Put differently, it is a speech that is far from the truth.^{‎[15] Mizan, 20/41.}

EXPOSITION

This verse is related through conjunction to the sentence Hence we have believed in it in verse 2. The verse would thus read as: We have now believed that what the foolish amongst us used to ascribe to God was naught but lies.^{‎[16] Alusi, 15/95.}

This statement of the jinn was to emphasise the impropriety of attributing spouse and children to God as attested by them in verse 3.^{‎[17] Mizan, 20/41.} It is also a confession from them to the fact that the defiant and the polytheists^{‎[18] Shawkani, 5/365.} amongst them, Satan being at the forefront,^{‎[19] Tabrisi, 10/555; Tabari, 29/67. See also Thaalabi, 5/494.} used to ascribe such baseless lies to God and mislead the people. The usage of the term foolish (safīh) to refer to the defiant and the infidels amongst them could possibly be out of realisation of the fact that the attitude of renouncing the truth after it has become manifest is unbecoming of the sane: And who will [ever] renounce Abraham’s creed except one who fools himself? (2:130).

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Mughniyyah holds that this verse indicates that there was a group within the jinn who used to believe in a trinity: the divinity of the Lord, His son, and His wife.^{‎[20] Kashif, 7/435.}

Based on the meaning of the term shaṭaṭ which implies exceeding the limits, be it on the affirmative or the negative side, Rāzī concludes that as affirming human attributes to God (tashbīh) is exceeding the limits in describing God, so is the position that divests him of all attributes (taʿṭīl), and as such, both positions are exorbitant and denounced.^{‎[21] Razi, 30/667.}     

[1] Raghib, under s-f-h.
[2] Tahqiq, under s-f-h.
[3] Raghib, under s-f-h.
[4] Tahqiq, under s-f-h.
[5] Bahrayn, under ʾ-l-h; Qamus, under allāh.
[6] Lisan and Raghib, under ʾ-l-h.
[7] Ayn and Lisan, under w-l-h.
[8] Raghib, under ʾ-l-h.
[9] Bahrayn, under ʾ-l-h.
[10] Qamus, under allāh.
[11] Raghib, under sh-ṭ-ṭ.
[12] Lisan and Ayn, under sh-ṭ-ṭ.
[13] Thaalabi, 5/494.
[14] Raghib, under sh-ṭ-ṭ.
[15] Mizan, 20/41.
[16] Alusi, 15/95.
[17] Mizan, 20/41.
[18] Shawkani, 5/365.
[19] Tabrisi, 10/555; Tabari, 29/67. See also Thaalabi, 5/494.
[20] Kashif, 7/435.
[21] Razi, 30/667.